This week, I’m mostly off work, because I have a home exam to write about Norwegian 19th Century literature and language history. It’s a big and difficult essay to write, and so far I’m not making as much progress as I would like (luckily the essay isn’t due until Monday lunch-time, and I write well under pressure). Because the kids I teach are in the middle of their mid-terms, I had to go into school today to help out for a bit, and as suspected, the day ended up being longer than planned and quite stressful. I spent more than half an hour comforting hysterically crying girls, and then, because I was tired and cranky, ended up having a particularly pointless argument with my husband over the phone, about all things, who was to be in charge of making dinner. But all the suck of my day disappeared in a flash when I got home and opened the postbox. A big box from Amazon, with my name on it!
Thank you so much, Jen K, for the lovely books that made the evening of a crappy day such a happy one, and motivated me to keep writing on this stupid essay, so I can get back to reading for pleasure again. I think I’m going to save at least one of them for my Christmas holiday, when the husband and I are going to Morocco. And thanks again for suggesting the book exchange in the first place. I enjoyed selecting the books for my recipient almost as much as I enjoyed getting books of my own. I hope we can continue this tradition in years to come!
Cannonball Read V 
Oh, wow, the hardcover of The Golem and the Jinni is really pretty. The cover photos on the internet don’t do it justice.
It’s a beautiful book. I’m really looking forward to reading both books.
You can’t quite see it in the picture, but the edges of the pages are blue, too! I’m so excited this arrived. I basically only bought it for the cover and then didn’t read it for a few months because I was afraid I’d just been sucked in by a pretty cover. And then I loved it. Kind of like I didn’t read The Night Circus forever.